INDIA: Law is no exception to god-men or god-women

In India, another controversy has
erupted concerning yet another spiritual guru. The exception
however is, this time, it is a god-woman from the southern
state of Kerala. Otherwise, the script is an oft-repeated
one.

The emergence of a person claiming spiritual and god
given powers from a remote hamlet in the country to national
and international prominence over a period of time; an
estranged early disciple breaking off from the sect; and
authoring a memoir throwing light into the otherwise unknown
inside aspects of the guru as well as the guru's inner
circle, alleging crimes of varying nature including sexual
violence and financial misappropriation; and the government
going out of the way, beyond the mandates of law, to protect
the cult and the persons leading it.

Many countries in the
world have had their share of gurus and spirituality driven
movements, most of them later exposed as mere spinoffs, led
by fraudsters. Perhaps in this list, India stands remarkably
high up.

India is home to controversial persons like, Mr.
Sathyanarayana Raju, who was alleged of crimes including
being a paedophile; or before him, Mr. Chandra Mohan Jain,
who was accused of masterminding a bio-terror attack - the
first confirmed instance of bio-terrorism in the United
States, and their modern day counterparts like, Mr. Asumal
Thaumal Harpalani, notorious for rape charges and
absconding. The country is fertile ground for such money
swindlers and racketeers.

Common to all of them, is that
they could with relative ease get away with their crimes,
organise for investigations to be stalled, and prevent
prosecutions. They all exhibit the same skill in dodging the
criminal justice process in India. They all enjoyed in
showcasing their high-profile political clout, that none
dared to question them or their cult or its activities. All
of them have spoken in international forums, some at the
United Nations or are referred to as exemplary examples of
humanitarian activists, like Satyanarayana Raju, who was
repeatedly appreciated by the UN for his water supply
programmes, while his otherwise unknown side of life was
involved in deep criminality.

The book authored by Ms.
Gail Tredwell, alleges that she was raped repeatedly by one
of the leading personalities in the cult led by a god woman
from Kerala that she once followed, and further that the
woman she believed to be her spiritual guru was in fact also
engaged in criminal activities. Once the book hit the
stands, public opinions, for and against the book and the
cult movement followed, just as it is expected in any
healthy democracy.

However, what is appalling is the fact
that the state government going out of the way to silence
public opinion against the cult. Worse, the Home Minister of
Kerala underlined his government's subjugation to the cult,
by declaring that the government would not take any criminal
actions against the cult and its leadership. The Chief
Minister has said that before one criticises the cult, one
should remember the good deeds that it has done so far. If
this logic is to be agreed as a legal standard, one of the
first persons against whom there is a serious criminal
charge pending, who should be exonerated is, Mr. Tarun J.
Tejpal. Under the leadership of Tejpal, the organisation
that he led, Tehelka, has exposed a large number of
instances of political corruption and mal-governance in
India.

Tredwell in her book has alleged, among other
things against the cult that she once followed, crimes of
serious nature. Some of them have direct and possible
consequences that could endanger the security of the nation.
Some of these crimes are of such gravity that the statute of
limitation does not apply to them.

The government has the
fundamental duty to investigate these allegations. Ministers
who act against the constitutional mandate that they are
bound to uphold and have sworn allegiance to before assuming
office, that is to uphold the rule of law, must be
prosecuted for breaching their constitutional
promise.

Such statements will demoralise the state police.
State opposition to a legal obligation to investigate
promptly an allegation of crime only underlines the
culpability of the government in promoting
criminality.

Once a crime is committed, however small it
might be, any amount of good deeds performed later does not
have the capacity to exonerate the criminal. The power to
acquit and convict a person is with the judiciary in India.
Or, are there two sets of laws in India, one for the
ordinary citizen and another for the god-men and
god-women?

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